


A Little Problem

by fictionalinfinity



Series: Destiny Rewritten [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Fluff, Gen, One Shot, de-aged!Merlin, deaged Merlin, young Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-10-20 06:58:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20671190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalinfinity/pseuds/fictionalinfinity
Summary: Hunith comes to Camelot to find out her son is not exactly as she remembered seeing him last...Or, de-aged!Merlin





	A Little Problem

**Author's Note:**

> *pops in with a random update to this series*  
hi.  
anyway, I've had many requests for an appearance of Hunith in this series, so here she is! Finally. This is just fluff. Do not have to read the rest of the series to understand. Just enjoy it for what it is lol

“Mother!” Merlin cried, running up to hug her. Hunith laughed at his enthusiasm, returning the embrace fondly. 

“It’s been too long, my son. I’ve missed you,” Hunith sighed. “Much has changed in Ealdor. I would’ve come sooner if not for that.”

Merlin smiled. “All that matters is you’re here now. I’ve been telling Balinor all about you. He’s very excited to meet his grandmother Hunith,” Merlin teased, watching with satisfaction as he drew a blush out of her. 

“It is hard to believe I’m old enough to be a grandmother,” she replied. “It only seems like yesterday I saw you off to Camelot. Now here you are, with a family to call your own.” To hear that he’d called the boy Balinor had moved her to tears when she’d read it in one of his letters. If she were to acknowledge it now, it would certainly do so again. It wasn’t the time for tears, however, so she let it be. 

Merlin led her through the halls to the nursery where Balinor and Freya awaited them. Hunith marveled at the change that had been wrought since her last visit under Uther’s reign. When once before people moved through the halls quietly and stoic, now there was life everywhere. Servants smiled at her in passing, all while chatting and enjoying the sunlight streaming through windows. 

Hunith stopped in shock the first time a serving girl paused to curtsy before them. Merlin grumbled something under his breath when she passed. “I wish they’d stop doing that. Ever since I got the title of Court Sorcerer it’s like they suddenly forgot I was a servant too.”

The distaste in her son’s voice made her laugh. “You sound just like your father!”

Then it was Merlin’s turn to stumble in shock, looking at her with an eyebrow raised. “Really? How so?” He asked. Hunith could only imagine how surprised Merlin was at her mentioning his father. She hadn’t brought him up often in Merlin’s childhood. 

“Balinor was of a noble house. Ambrosius, if I remember correctly. When he was staying with me, he would always talk of how relieved he was to just be one of the people. He hated the bows and curtsies and ‘my lords’.”

Merlin hummed in surprise. “It’s nice to know we had something in common, then,” he said finally. 

They had reached the nursery by then, and Hunith felt her heart flutter in anticipation as Merlin opened the door. 

A young woman sat on the floor with a small child in front of her, playing with some wooden figurines. The woman, who could only be Freya, looked up at the sound of the door opening and smiled in greeting. 

“Look who’s here!” Freya told the boy sweetly, and he peered over his shoulder, eyes widening. 

“Daddy!” Balinor cried, awkwardly climbing to his feet and stumbling over as fast as his little legs would take him.

“Come here, you!” Merlin laughed, picking up the little boy, pretending to toss the boy in the air. Balinor screamed with delight and Hunith’s heart melted at the sight of it. Merlin took a moment to settle the boy in his arms and she allowed herself to look over the boy. 

Balinor had a startling similarity to Merlin at that age. Hunith imagined that if Merlin had grown up in a life of privilege, never worrying about getting enough to eat, not having to hide inside from accusing neighbors, that the boy could have really been Merlin. Their dark hair was the same, and so were the eyes. His cheeks were rosier and fuller than Merlin’s had been.

“I’ve got someone for you to meet,” Merlin told his son. Some of Balinor’s excitement faded, and his eyes held some fear. 

“Who?” Balinor asked, his eyes flickering over to her. Merlin had warned Hunith that Balinor didn’t like strangers. It was apparently due to an incident with the recently-deceased Morgana, but Merlin had been reluctant to share details. 

“Do you remember me telling you about  _ my  _ mama?” Balinor nodded. Merlin pointed to Hunith. “That’s her! She’s come all the way here to visit you!” 

Some of the unease left Balinor’s expression. “Really?” He asked, voice full of childlike awe. Hunith nodded, giving him a warm smile. 

“Is it okay if she holds you?” Merlin asked, keeping his voice light. Balinor narrowed his eyes, looking her up and down as if sizing her up. 

“Okay,” Balinor agreed as if deeming her worthy enough. Merlin laughed at his antics. 

Merlin shifted so Hunith could put her arms around the boy, holding him gently. “Hi Balinor,” she started softly, “I’m your Grandmother Hunith.” 

“Are you really my daddy’s mama?” He asked, looking up at her in wonder, and Hunith chuckled. 

“Yes, I am,” Hunith replied, smiling. “Did you know you look like your daddy did when he was as tiny as you?”

Balinor gasped. “I do?!” Hunith nodded. Over Balinor’s head, she could see her son, with an arm around his wife, smiling and eyes glistening. 

* * *

Merlin had taken Balinor to see Gaius, giving Hunith a chance to get acquainted with Freya. She had been sad to see the boy go, but she was excited to meet the woman about whom Merlin had written many letters. 

“Hunith, it is so nice to finally meet you,” Freya smiled sweetly and Hunith pulled her into a hug. 

“I’ve heard so much about you. Thank you for making my boy so happy,” Hunith sighed, holding her tightly. 

“O-oh,” Freya replied, voice light. Hunith began to pull away, but Freya rested her cheek on her shoulder, so Hunith let them stay like that a little while yet. 

* * *

“It is nice to see you again, Hunith,” Arthur smiled from his place at the table. Gwen had insisted that she and the king host Hunith and her family for dinner to celebrate her visit. Hunith had graciously accepted, after some protest about it being all too fanciful, of course. 

“I am glad to be back, your highness,” she replied, looking over to smile at her son. 

“Surely you would be more comfortable taking residence in the citadel? You know you will always have a place here,” Gwen tried to offer, but Hunith shook her head. 

“I enjoy my work. I don’t think I could bear to leave it. It is one of my last connections to Merlin’s father,” Hunith replied, and for a moment the table was still. 

Gwen was the first to break the silence that had befallen them. “Would you tell us about him, Hunith?” She asked gently, reaching her hand out to lay atop Hunith’s own. Hunith swallowed and composed herself for a moment before looking up at the queen with a smile. 

“Of course, my lady,” she replied, bowing her head. 

“Hunith, you know of course there is no need for such formalities! I was a guest in your own home for so long. We know each other too well.”

Hunith acquiesced, before regaling the royal couple along with her son and daughter-in-law with tales of a kind man on the run from the law who mastered dragons. 

* * *

“No, daddy, don’t go!” Balinor cried, tugging on Merlin’s wrist with all of his childlike might. Hunith laughed at the sight of it. Merlin, who had to attend to Arthur at a council meeting, clearly didn’t want to go either. He had come to Hunith, asking if she would like to spend time with the child while he was away. She had agreed without hesitation. 

“Daddy needs to go serve the king, Bal. Your grandmother Hunith can play with you instead?” Merlin tried to placate the raging toddler, but apparently he did not like this alternative. 

“No! I want to play with Daddy  _ and _ grandma Hunith!” Balinor retorted, stomping his feet angrily. Merlin shot his mother a pleading look. 

Hunith approached the pair and tried to pull Balinor’s grip off of Merlin. “Come now, Balinor! We can play all your favorite games. Maybe even go down to the market and get ourselves a treat?” She tried her best, privately unsure if it would work. Merlin had always been an easy child when it came to listening to her. Perhaps her presumed parenting skill only stemmed from a fear of losing her child, and Balinor was at no such risk. 

The child just about lost all hold on his temper. “No!” Balinor shouted once and for all and his eyes flashed gold. Hunith watched, sick, as whatever magic he had just performed hit her son square in the chest. 

Merlin looked down at his son and then himself in horror. To Hunith’s surprise, Merlin seemed to be...shrinking?

No, not shrinking, exactly. He lost some of his height and his face seemed younger than she had seen in years. Almost like the day Merlin had first left for Camelot. Then the process continued. 

Hunith was frozen, watching as Merlin grew rapidly younger before her until he was just a small child about Balinor’s size, swamped in clothes entirely too big for him. “Mother?” He asked in quiet shock, his voice eerily reminiscent of what it had been almost thirty years ago. 

“Merlin?” She asked in return, her own voice breathless from the shock of it all. Beside them, forgotten until now, Balinor cheered. 

“Yay! Now Daddy can stay and play forever!” He exclaimed, and Merlin and Hunith turned twin gazes of shock on the boy. 

“Balinor! What did you do?!” Merlin demanded, giving him as much of a disapproving look as possible on the face of a two-year-old. Hunith was momentarily thankful for the fact that Merlin seemed to at least have retained his memory. 

Balinor just laughed at his father’s desperation. “I made you little so you don’t have to help the prat! You can stay with me!”

“Merlin,” Hunith began, still managing to be startled when the young face looked up at her, “we need to get you to Gaius and see if he knows anything about undoing... this,” she gestured at his state, unsure of what to call it.

“That’s a...good idea,” Merlin replied stiffly. He tried to stand, but unused to his new weight, immediately flopped on his face. Balinor was laughing rather heartily. 

Merlin muttered a few words that sounded very obscene coming out of a toddler’s mouth before gazing up at her, helplessly. “Help, please?” The question sounded so much like it would have thirty years ago that she could not help but coo and bend over to help. 

“Mother!” Merlin protested indignantly, but she paid him no mind. 

“Do you want to change into something that fits, dear?” Hunith offered, eyeing the now rather large clothing. 

Merlin shook his head no. “I’ll just resize it with my magic.” He squeezed his eyes shut tightly before there was a pop followed by a sizzle. Balinor gasped. 

“Merlin! Your hair!” Hunith cried, patting down hastily the flames that had burst to life. Merlin screamed in alarm before his hands joined the fray. 

When the flames were successfully doused, Hunith turned to Merlin with a frown. “You must have lost control over your magic. We really must be getting to Gaius,” she said, moving to pick him up before he stopped her. 

“No! Let me try one more time,” he pleaded, and Hunith gave in. She waited a few moments before the boy’s eyes shone gold and the clothes shrunk to fit him at last. Merlin smiled triumphantly. Hunith grabbed Balinor’s hands and made to leave, trusting Merlin to follow when something tugged at the hem of her skirts. 

“I uh...don’t think I can walk,” Merlin mumbled, pouting. Hunith sighed and picked him up, resting him on her hip as she would have done back in Ealdor. 

“There. Comfy?” She asked, and he nodded while avoiding her eyes, clearly embarrassed. Hunith rolled her eyes fondly. “Come, Balinor. Time to fix your mess, young man,” she ordered, raising an eyebrow at him. 

Balinor looked at her warily. “Yes, ma’am,” he replied, sliding his hand into her own. 

The walk to Gaius’ chambers was not a long one, though not lacking odd stares. Servants across the castle who saw them had a double-take when they noticed not one but two little heads of black hair. Merlin had eventually buried his face in her shoulder to hide from the shame of it all. Hunith noted the tips of his ears burned red with embarrassment. 

“Gaius?” Hunith called into the chambers, only to be met with no answer. She waited a few more moments, looking around even, but coming up empty. “Merlin, do you have any idea where he’d be?” She asked, looking down at her son. 

“Oh!” Merlin gasped, eyes lighting up. “He’s in the council meeting with Arthur. The one that  _ I’m _ supposed to be at...oh no! They’ll all see me like this!” His eyes began to tear up.

“Don’t worry, Merlin,” Hunith tried to calm him. It seemed that with being returned to a younger state he had lost his inhibitions in both magic  _ and  _ emotion. “I won’t let them see you, I promise. Let’s go get him so we can return you back to normal, okay?” Merlin nodded.

* * *

Outside of the council chamber, Hunith turned to the guard. “Will you watch them for me, please? I have urgent business with the court physician,” she asked, gesturing to where she had sat Merlin on the floor and where Balinor stood beside him. The guard nodded, albeit skeptically. 

She knocked on the chamber door before opening it enough to let herself in. The members of the table looked up at her entrance, confused by her appearance. 

“Hunith? Is everything alright? Where is Merlin?” Arthur spoke first. She could tell he was annoyed by his absence but restraining himself in her presence

“Err...Merlin is unavailable at the moment, Sire,” Hunith nodded her head in deference. Gwen narrowed her eyes in worry. “I’m afraid I’ve come for Gaius, something needs his attention immediately,” she explained, trying to avoid explaining what had befallen Merlin. 

One of Merlin’s friends- Gwaine, was it? -stood up in concern. “Has something happened to Merlin?” 

Hunith gaped for a moment, unsure of how to respond. She was touched by their obvious concern for her son but hadn’t planned to explain herself more than this. 

“I’m not quite sure. Merlin’s been hit with some foreign magic. Gaius, please?” She gestured to the door behind her, ready to make her escape with her uncle. 

Arthur stood and put up his hand. “Council dismissed,” he ordered, and Hunith watched as most of the men stood to leave. Only a few remained, one being the queen, another, Gaius, and the others were knights she recognized as Merlin’s companions. 

“Hunith, what’s happened?” Arthur asked, brow furrowed in concern. Hunith felt her cheeks burn in embarrassment at having been cause for the council to disband. 

“It’s really alright, sire. I just need Gaius-” she tried, but the queen cut her off gently. 

“Hunith, if something’s happened, I think we should all know.”

Hunith sighed, casting one final glance at the door behind her and silently apologizing for not being able to keep her son’s wish. 

“Balinor cast some kind of spell on Merlin. I’m afraid it’s...changed him. It’s best to show you,” she said, not waiting for their reply before speeding into the hall to collect Merlin. 

After asking the guard to escort Balinor to Freya’s chambers, Hunith swept Merlin into her arms and reentered the chamber. Those who remained inside looked troubled at the sight of the pair. 

“Hunith, has something happened to Balinor? You said earlier it was Merlin,” Elyan spoke up, glancing at the boy in her arms. Merlin’s cheeks flamed red. 

“That’s the thing,” Hunith said, trying and failing for a laugh. “This  _ is  _ Merlin.”

Everyone in the chamber fell quiet to examine the boy with new eyes. At first glance, he appeared eerily similar to Balinor, but with examination you could determine the subtle differences that separated the father from the son. While Balinor had features of Freya that were familiar to them, this little boy did not. 

“It really is him,” Gaius gasped, being the first to comprehend it. It figured that it would be him. Gaius had seen Merlin a time or two at this age when he had checked up on them in Ealdor before Uther had eventually forbidden the visits. 

“You can’t be serious,” Arthur deadpanned. “ _ This  _ is Merlin?” 

It took another moment before the king lost all composure and was bent over in laughter. The others looked between the king and Merlin, both unsure of the severity of the situation and how to react. 

Merlin’s lower lip trembled. “Stop it, you prat!” Merlin cried at him. At the sound of the familiar name, the other knights could not hold themselves together either, and they fell into bouts of laughter. The queen covered her mouth, fighting the urge. 

“Gaius?” Hunith turned to the man, hoping he could present them with a solution. 

“I have seen something akin to this in my studies. Let us go to my chambers and see what we can do.”

* * *

The solution ended up being easy enough. Gaius cast a spell and Merlin was relieved to be back in his own body again. Merlin knew that he and Balinor would be having a stern talking-to later. For now, however, Arthur would not let him live it down. 

“Aw, Merlin, are you going to cry?” Arthur mocked when Merlin crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you need to borrow one of Ygraine’s pink comfort blankets?” He continued, nearly falling over in laughter at his own joke. 

“You were such an adorable little mamma’s boy? Whatever happened to you?!” Arthur teased and Merlin gave a long-suffering sigh. 

“Oh, do tell, Merlin! I think I want to hear you answer this one,” Hunith joined in. Merlin’s following groan of annoyance could be heard from down the hall. 

**Author's Note:**

> if you enjoyed this and you're new to my series, go ahead and give it a glance! I also have another multi-chapter merlin fic currently being published that you might enjoy if you like whump. feel free to drop in a request for any other scenario you want to see in this series!


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